November 24, 2013 at 5:20 a.m.

This is why I don't drink caffeine in the afternoon - I stay up all night if I do.  So here it is 5:20 a.m. and I feel tired, but every time I lay down, I can't get to sleep.  So at 4:30 ish I got up and put chili fixin's in the crock pot.  Now, that is bizarre.  HA!

The results from the DNA testing are in!  There is a LOT of information and I still need to figure out exactly what everything means, but 84% of me is European, mostly of Spanish and Portuguese descent.  This is from my mother's side.  Because we women lack the Y chromosome, the father's side is not as evident.  I'm not sure exactly what this means.  I think one of my brothers needs to have this done so we can be more accurate and possibly find some long lost relatives.  Through the service I used there are approximately 400 possible relatives of ours out there from Spain and Puerto Rico and possibly Mexico in addition to locales in the States.  I am looking forward to contacting some of these people to see if we have family in common and hopefully filling in some holes the in the Puerto Rican/Spanish history.  I sure wish we would have talked to people before they were gone.   Isn't hindsight grand?

Anyhoo, more information about heritage to come.

Leaving for Seattle on Thanksgiving Day and coming back the following Tuesday.  So looking forward to seeing my son, daughter-in-law and grandson and seeing Seattle again.  It's a great city, although it's just so big and busy.

My DNA sample is being analyzed at the lab!  How exciting!  They said it will take 4-6 weeks.  Luckily, I have developed some patience in my old age.  :)  Some, I said.  Not much.

My baby boy turned 36 yesterday.  My baby girl turned 38 on November 5.  I got older on October 4 - again wondering where the hell all the time has gone.

I'm a little tired, but tomorrow is another day.

Wow, my last post was on October 13.  Time is flying by!  

It's only going to be 47 degrees at the high today, but it's beautifully sunny which makes all the difference.

One thing I notice about aging is the need to plan every little thing and plan it early.  I'll be going to Seattle on Thanksgiving Day to visit Eric, Tracy and Eli and I am already mentally making lists.  I will be putting them to paper soon.  I'll check them, oh 500 times or so, and then I'll be ready.  :)  

I tend to be a little more anxious traveling alone than I was before.  The shooting at the LA airport didn't do much to allay my fears.  Jeesh.  What a world.  So many sad, deranged people.

Bu-bye.

                                                     Updated picture of Rhiannon.

Updated picture of Layla.

                   Kind of updated pic of Regina - a senior pic so it's 2 years old, but I love it.

Can't find a good one of Joey at the moment. Stay tuned.

It's such a beautiful day!    74 degrees and sunny.  Ahhhhh

I opened my front curtains and came face to face with an adorable little chickadee.  (My window ledge outside is only a couple of inches off the ground.) He/she looked right back at me for a few seconds and then flew up to the limb of a close by tree.  Chickadees are really, really cute.  I actually love to watch birds even though I am afraid of anything that flies.  At my mother's apartment complex there is a pond outside her back window where we watch ducks and geese and one awesome heron.  We think it's a blue heron.  Herons are unusual looking and acting.  We have watched it walk in ultra slow motion around the pond - never getting into the water, never swimming.  The other day it walked right past Mom's window, so we got a good close up view for several minutes before it spread its amazing wings and flew away. It was exciting!  :)  

Here's a chickadee - they're much cuter in person.

My friend Brian posted this on his Facebook page today and I responded 


"Trying to retire from the world."

I know that sounds rather negative, but sometimes I do feel that way but, never fear, not all the time.  There are days, though, when I can hardly stand to watch the news.  I wonder if people were always so awful or if they have just evolved.  

On a different note, it's 2:04 a.m. and I've been up since 5:30.  I don't know the answer as to why on either end of that spectrum.  It's damn annoying though.

Maybe later I'll comment on the stupid government shut down.  Suffice it to say I'm just totally disgusted and appalled.  Sigh.

In other news, I am waiting for my brown rice to cook although I can't remember if I put in the required amount of water so I don't know what I'll be getting.  I'm going to say it's because I don't feel too well today, but we all probably know better.  :)